Conventionally, according to a rearview door mirror of this type, the orientation of the mirror member may be adjusted in the lateral direction or its angular orientation around a vertical axis by laterally moving an actuation lever projecting into the passenger compartment, but the adjustment of the mirror member in the fore-and-aft direction or its angular orientation around a horizontal axis is made possible by moving the actuation lever in the vertical direction. However, according conventional rearview door mirrors of this type, there was a feel of a certain discrepancy between the directions of the movement of the actuation lever and the movement of the mirror member, and, therefore, it has been desired to provide a manually adjustable rearview door mirror which is free from such an inconvenience without requiring any complex structure.
Also, such rearview door mirrors are required to be retractable, and they can be typically folded around a vertical pivot axis closely upon a side of the vehicle body so that the effective width of the vehicle may be minimized when required, for instance, in narrow alleys and densely packed car carrier ships and parking garages. The linkage mechanism for effecting the angular adjustment of the mirror member in such a retractable rearview door mirror is required to be protected from the interferences arising from the retracting movement of the rearview door mirror. This is typically accomplished by using a spring loaded clutch which becomes disengaged when an excessive force is applied thereto, and applying a suitable amount of friction to the actuation lever end of the linkage mechanism to make it relatively immune from the force applied to the mirror member end of the linkage mechanism. However, if this friction is excessive, the force required to operate the action lever becomes excessive. Conversely, if the friction is insufficient, the angular orientation of the mirror member is altered by the retraction of the rearview door mirror, and the angular adjustment of the mirror member is required every time the rearview door mirror is restored from its retracted state to its normal position. It is not always easy to achieve a suitable amount of friction and, in either case, it has been often the case that the user encounters a considerably inconvenience.